Criminals an offshoot of poor parenting – Dandy

WESTERN BUREAU:

DEAN OF Discipline at the Godfrey Stewart High School in Savanna-la-Mar, Barbara Dandy, says poor parental guidance has been a major contributor to the level of disorder and criminality in the parish.

Dandy, who has been credited for transforming Godfrey Stewart High, once considered a pariah among secondary schools in the western region, to a beacon of excellence over her 12-year tenure, also believes legislative changes must be made to hold parents accountable.

“Parental involvement or the lack thereof is a recurring decimal when dealing with a disruptive child,” Dandy, a trained educator, told The Gleaner. “When I assess the situation, it more often than not leads back to their parents and the things happening in their communities.

DAMAGED GOODS

“Some of my children I call ‘damaged goods’, not because of their doings, but because of the impact of their family situation on them and we are constantly trying to find ways to help them,” she explained.

Indiscipline, which was once a strong feature of Godfrey Stewart High, is now a thing of the past, thanks to strong leadership, a supportive Parent-Teacher Association and past students’ body. Parents are now integral in all aspects of the school’s operation.

“I wish there was a system in place that when children commit themselves and have to be institutionalised and being held in police custody, that parents can be sanctioned and called to give account,” she expressed.

Gangs have been creating havoc on the parish capital over the last decade, but there have been no major incidents at the school, despite having students from all the embattled communities among the 1,300-strong student population.

“I have students who come to us from Russia, Dexter Street and Dalling Street and we don’t have any war here,” the dean of discipline said. “I am in my 12th year as the dean and the infractions that we have come across and dealt with have to do with disobedience and some level of truancy.”

She further revealed that students with disruptive behaviours are less than five per cent of the school’s population, and noting that the bad practices are often a cause of outside influences.

“When you look at it, oftentimes there is a situation outside of the school environment that is impacting and mitigating against the good behaviour that we want,” Dandy argued.

On January 13 the Government announced a zone of special operations (ZOSO) for southern Savanna-la-Mar, covering the troubled communities of Russia, Dexter and Dalling streets.

However, Dandy is not convinced that intervention of the security forces will make much difference, unless parents and guardians lay the right foundation at home.

“It all starts at the home, children live what they learn … the police or the teacher in the classroom should not have to be giving instructions on the basic principles of life or teaching them everyday etiquette, that must be the parent’s role,” she said.

“The presence of the security forces will not correct the problems. They are only there to take out the few illegal guns and the perpetrators of crime off the street,” Dandy noted.

“If intervention at home does not take place at an early stage, the danger of undesirables becoming their role models might have already taken root and could be too late for the current security intervention.”

t all starts at the home, children live what they learn … the police or the teacher in the classroom should not have to be giving instructions on the basic principles of life or teaching them everyday etiquette, that must be the parent’s role